Abstract: By providing a molded or extruded plastic base cylinder or plate with a surface coating of an etchable metal, a low cost printing media is achieved for use in intaglio or gravure printing. The plastic base cylinder may be machined to a low tolerance diameter before being substantially uniformly plated with an etchable metal such as copper or nickel about its entire outer peripheral surface, thereby assuring uniform balance and concentricity. The plated surface is then engraved or etched with the information to be printed, resulting in a low cost printing cylinder for use in intaglio or rotogravure printing. In one embodiment, the cylinder incorporates a substantially uniform diameter shafting bore along its central axis in order to provide for mounting the cylinder on a shaft or other fixture, while another embodiment provides for accurately disposed and engaging lugs which rotationally drive the cylinder.

Abstract: By providing a molded or extruded plastic base cylinder or plate with a surface coating of an etchable metal, a low cost printing media is achieved for use in intaglio or gravure printing. The plastic base cylinder may be machined to a low tolerance diameter before being substantially uniformly plated with an etchable metal such as copper or nickel about its entire outer peripheral surface, thereby assuring uniform balance and concentricity. The plated surface is then engraved or etched with the information to be printed, resulting in a low cost printing cylinder for use in intaglio or rotogravure printing. In one embodiment, the cylinder incorporates a substantially uniform diameter shafting bore along its central axis in order to provide for mounting the cylinder on a shaft or other fixture, while another embodiment provides for accurately disposed and engaging lugs which rotationally drive the cylinder.

Abstract: A method of gravure printing which comprises preparing a tone chart having tone scale images with known density values and known gradations between a series of steps between a deep shadow tone density value and a light shadow tone density value, etching a test tone cylinder to reproduce the tone chart and measuring and recording the cell geometry of each tone image on the test cylinder, placing the test cylinder on the press to be used and operating the press with ink and substrate selected for the copy to be reproduced, measuring the tone densities of the printed product samples obtained during the test run and recording this data along with the data on density values of the tone chart and the cell geometry of the test cylinder, determining from this data the tone scale and press operating conditions which will produce theoretically optimum reproduction on the press, preparing specifications, in terms of cell geometry, for engraving of production cylinders and preparing production cylinders according to the